Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has disclosed that the sum of N3.36 trillion has been allocated for fuel subsidy in 2023, just as Nigeria’s total debt profile hits $102 billion.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who made this known on Wednesday in Abuja, also reiterated that the 2023 budget proposal, which remains the country’s largest budget ever, has a budget deficit of N10.78 trillion.
She said this would be funded through domestic and multilateral borrowings and proceeds from privatisation.
Giving a breakdown of Nigeria’s $102 billion debt, she said 35 per cent is foreign, and 65 per cent is domestic, adding that the current public debt is at 23 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The minister also said the 2023 budget also factored in 17.16 per cent inflation.
Business Post reported on Monday that inflation hit a fresh 17-year high in September.
According to her, the draft 2023 budget was prepared on the background of international challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that revenue generation has been a major challenge to national development in the country.
On the allocations for critical sectors, she said the sum of N2.05 trillion is allocated to education, making it the largest yet, though still below the 26 per cent benchmark set by United Nations.
She added that N1.58 trillion was provided for health while N2.74 trillion was allocated to defence and security, infrastructure got N998.9 billion, while social development and poverty reduction was put at N756 billion.
